Word was evidently brought to Ferguson here, telling him the now augmented number of his foe, for he dispatched another emissary to Cornwallis with a letter stating the number of his own troops and urging full and immediate assistance.
Meanwhile the frontiersmen had halted at the Cowpens.

There they feasted royally off roasted cattle and corn belonging to the loyalist who owned the Cowpens.

It is said that they mowed his fifty acres of corn in an hour.

And here one of their spies, in the assumed role of a Tory, learned Ferguson's plans, his approximate force, his route, and his system of communication with Cornwallis.

The officers now held council and determined to take a detachment of the hardiest and fleetest horsemen and sweep down on the enemy before aid could reach him.